Mineral wool bat compressor and cooler



July 28, 1942. r. MOONEY 2,291,097

MINERAL WOOL BAT COMPRESSOR AND COOLER Filed Nov. 17, 1939 5 Sheets-She'et l I INVENTOR.

BY 5 I A RNEYQ v Jilly 28, 1942. MQONEY 2,291,097

MINERAL WOOLBAT COMPRESSOR AND cooma Filed Nov. 17, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A'I'TORNEY.

. f/zomaaEMmg July 28, 1942.

T. F. MOONEY 2,291,097

MINERAL WOOL BAT COMPRESSOR AND COOLER 1 Filed Nov. 17, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 @HIHHH i g L INVENTOR.

f ham/625E Mon/Q51,

Patented July 28, 1942 MINERAL WOOLBAT COMPRESSOR AND COOLER Thomas F. Mooney, New Lexington, Ohio, assignor to Ludowici-Celadon Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 17, 1939, Serial No. 304,920

surfaces and will be of substantially uniform Claims.

The invention pertains to the manufacture of insulating units or bats of mineral wool or the like, although in certain phases it has adaptability to other uses. Considered with greater particularity, the invention includes an apparatus by which slabs or blocks of resilient mineral fibers may be formed into resilient light weight bats of subtsantially uniform predetermined dimensions and shape.

In the manufacture of mineral 'wool, the slag, after being melted andwhile molten, is blown by a high velocity jet of air or steam to form filamentary threads or fibers. The fibers or filaments are blown into a settling or receiving chamber and therein settle upon a traveling conveyor by which the resultant mat or' blanket is withdrawn from the chamber. sons, it is desirable to apply a binder or cementitious substance to the fibers when the latter are to be used in the manufacture of batting sheets and for certain other purposes, and this application may and, preferably, is made at the time the fibers are in the state of formation and in a dispersed condition within the forming and settling chamber. One practice is to spray the binder upon the fibers as they are being formed and to create, within the chamber, What may be termed an atmosphere of binder substantially in a vapor form so that the individual fibers are coated with binder to a substantial extent, the fibers thereby tending to stick together and to agglomerate into a relatively flocculent although somewhat uneven layer or sheet upon the conveyor. The mat or blanket thus produced is compressed by pressure rolls to substantially the desired thickness of th ultimate bats.

Because the binder coated fibers tend .to accumulate unevenly, that is, in bunches or in different quantities, as respects density or thickness, over adjacent parts or areas of the conveyor, and because of the resiliency of the fibers which cause them to spring back after rolling before the binder has set, the mat or blanket even after subjection to the compression of presser rolls will be uneven in cross-section or thickness dimension as between different portions or areas of the sheet. This variation in thickness makes for difficulties in'handling, packaging and using the bats which are cut from the blanket coming from the chamber. 1

It becomes, therefore, one of the primary objects of the invention to provide bats of mineral wool which will present relatively smooth,.major For various reathickness.

Still another object 'is to provide a machine adapted to carry out rapid production of the bats in an economical and expeditious fashion.

Many other objects as well as the advantages of the invention will become apparent and will be understood as the description is read and as the drawings are studied. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic end elevation of a preferred form of a bat cooler embodying the invention and adapted to carry out cer- -tainsteps in the process thereof;

view; taken scale of drawing beingrsomewhat greater than that of Fig.1;

.Fig. 5' is a top plan view of an end edge portion of one-of th compression or clamping plates together with an associated structural part of the machine frame illustrating a releasable latch mechanism and a latch operating trigger cooperative with the latch whereby the compression plate and tray proper may be moved relatively toward and from one another and secured in clamping or released positions;

Fig. 6 is a detail view in end elevation of the releasable latch in its position when the clamping plate and tray are in clamping position but about to strike a fixed trigger which will open the latch and permit the compression plate to drop away from the tray to release the bats;

Fig. 7 is a detail view in side elevation, with some parts in section, of the latch and the associated release trigger as viewed from line l-'l of Fig. 6; and

Fig. dis a detail view of the ends of a tray and its associated plate showing their relationship to the conveyor mechanism by which they are carried and also illustrating one arrangement whereby the plate and tray may be adjusted for the production of bats or units of various' thicknesses.

The cooler illustrated is designed to receive the bats produced from the compressed mat or blanket by cutting it longitudinally into strips and then transversely into bat lengths of the requisite dimensions. The mineral wool, at the time it emerges from the chamber, is still quite hot, and the binder applied to the fibers" is tacky but adapted to set or harden as it cools. Consequently, the wool mustbe cooled down and the binder must set before the units or bats may be packaged. The cooler illustrated receives the mineral wool bats and serves to compress them to a predetermined thickness and to hold them to such thickness while they are being cooled and the binder .is setting. When the bats are discharged from the cooler, they may be immediately packaged and will be of permanent dimen- SlOIlS.

Any suitable supporting frame members as standards or columns 2 and 3, adequately braced and supported one. base plate 4 in turn resting upon a flooring,-carry shaft bearing'hangers 5 and 6 which support a driven shaft 1 and a drive shaft 8, the shaft 8 being driven, in turn, by any power mechanism. Shaft 1 carries a pair of sprocket wheels 9 secured thereto, one at each end adjacent to the shaft hearings in hangers 5 and, similarly, shaft 8 carries a pair of sprocket wheels II, the sprockets at corresponding ends of the two shafts being aligned with one another and all beingof the same diameter. Chains l2 are trained over the aligned pairs of sprockets and the sprockets on eachshaft have their teeth in registration, that is, at corresponding radial positions with respect to the axis of the shaft to which they are related for the purpose of aligning with similar chain links to which the opposite ends of bat carrier trays 13 are secured. Each tray may be composed ,of a flat metal sheet bounded by angle irons I3 to which the metal sheet may be riveted, welded or otherwise secured.

Each of the several trays [3 of which there may be any desired number dependent upon the rate of operations and other factors including the rate of bat cooling, is secured at its ends to similar and correspondingly opposite links of the conveyor chains and in such manner that it is substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel of the chains and horizontal during those portions of its travel which are tangential to the sprockets. The trays in the illustrated embodiment, are rigidly secured to the chain links and at places substantially midway between their front and rear edges thereby the better' to balance the load upon the chains, and, as will be observed in Fig. 1, each is inverted in its travel from a position at the left of said figure to a position at the right thereof, the chain traveling in a clockwise direction to the observer. In Fig. 1, S1 designates the tray loading station at which place the bats are placed upon the trays as they come into position and S2 designates the unloadobserved in Fig. 3, each pin I8 is arrangedto be easily retracted from any aperture I1 for disposal through another and to such end is slidably mounted in a tubular housing l8 secured to the tray angle iron I3. Each housing- I! is provided with a cap l9 between the inner side of which and a collar 2| secured to the hinge pin, a coiled spring 22 abuts. The spring, therefore, normally tends to thrust the beveled end of the pin through registering apertures in angle iron l3 and one end of a strap iron member 23 weldea or otherwise secured to the outer side of the tray angle iron l3 and also through whichever one of apertures I1 is aligned therewith. A key to retract the hinge pin. In this manner each clamp plate I 4 is pivotally connected with its ing station at which place the bats are unloaded adapted to cooperate therewith to clamp and, to

a degree, compress a series of batstherebetween. Figs. 3, 6 and 8 show the detailed construction of the trays and clamping plates.

Rigidly secured at the rear edge of each end of each clamp plate and at right angles to the plane of the clamp plate is one end of an arm (5 which at its other end is hinged to the tray withwhich it is associated by hinge pins l6 selectively disposable through any of a series of circular apertures l1 formed in spaced relation to one another through the said other end of arm l5. As will be associated tray and may be swung toward and from the same to clamp or release the interposed bats- A releasable latch mechanism by means of which theufront end of each clamp plate may be secured to its associated tray and at a predetermined distance therefrom, is illustrated indetail in Figs. 5, 6, '7 and 8. The strap iron members23, above mentioned,- one of which is secured to each end of a tray and each of which is offset outwardly at its rear end to providea recess for free swinging movements of the arms l5, are also offset outwardly across the connection between the tray and the chain'link to-which it is attachedas indicated at 25, and are also offset outwardly as at 26'slidably to receive and to retain a latch bar 21. Each latch bar in the forward edge of its end to be connected with a tray, is provided with a plurality of spaced notches 28 selectively to receive and engage a fixed pivot provided by a cylindrical spacer or collar. 23 which is disposed about a bolt 3| extending through and rigidly secured to the offset portion 26 of the strap iron 23 and the angle iron H. The collar 23 not only serves as a pivot about which the latch arm 21 may rock, but also as a spacer between the offset portion 26 of the strap iron and the angle iron l3 so that the bolt may not be tightened to the point of binding the latch arm 21. Rearward of each latch arm and firmly secured tothe angle iron l3 at opposite ends of each tray is a piece of strap iron 32 which issuitably notched in its-forward edge to position and retain one end of a coil spring 33, the other'end of which abuts against the latch arm 21, the rear edge of the arm 21being suitably notched to position and retain the forward end reception of a cylindrical spacer collar 36 disposed about a bolt 31 extending through and secured to the angle iron l4 and the offset portion 38 of a piece of strap iron welded or secured to the angle iron H at the adjacent end of the clamp plate.

It will now be apparent that each clamp plate may be adjustably hingedto its associated tray at any of several vertical distances between the tray surface and the clamp plate surface. and that since the notches 28 are disposed at intervals spaced equally (in the present embodiment) spect to the tray.

with the spacing between the centers of the apertures I1, the front end of each clamp plate may be spaced at a perpendicular distance from the front end of its associated trayequal to thepere pendicular spacing between the rearends of the clamp plate and tray. In other words each clamp plate and tray may havetheir surfaces parallel to one another or they may be arranged at other predetermined angles with respect to one another if desired. When the bolt'31 is engaged in latch notch 34 the clamp plate is secured relative to its associated tray and this position will be referred to as the bat clamping orcompression position. When the bolt 31 is-cllsposed in latch notch 35, the outer edges of the clamp plate and tray are held in widely spaced relationship for the reception of bats at station the discharge of bats at station S2.

The swinging movements of the clamping plates toward and fromtheir associated trays are controlled purely by gravity when the latch mechanism is released. This actionis best illustrated in Fig. 1 wherein the travel of the con-t veyor is clockwise as indicated by the long ar.- rows. As each tray with its associated clamp. rises toward loading position S1 the bolt 31' is engaged in latch notch 35 so that the tray and S or clamp plate are securely held in open position.

When loading station S1 is reached, the operator or appropriate feed mechanism places a series of bats upon the upper surface of the tray and, as the tray progresses in its upward movement,

-movement, of theconveyor on the upward'course of its travel will causethe latch arms to be moved about their. pivots 3| thereby disenga ng the bolts 31 frornthe notches 35. .,,Sim,'ilarly, when the roller .strikers 43 engage theltri'gg'ersll, the continued movement of mef o veydr on, its downward course; and toward thefunloadi'ng' station; will withdrawdhebolts 31 from the notches 34 with which they-have been engaged. i; 1

' When the bats areloadedontoth trays'oi the conveyor, they are still quite wa f "not hot, and all or sufficient oithe ,binderwmh which thefibers have been coated isstillitackyj enough to become attached to the fibersfit touchesunder the cornpression efiected by thejclamp plate. The conveyor maybe driven from any-serene source' of power by a steady, movement or it rnay -be operated intermittently. as may be preferred, but-in any case, the timing preferably i'slarranged so that between the .tirnefthe bat leaves the loadtriggers 39 engage the latches carried by such tray and release the latches from engagement with bolts 31 so that the clamp plate underthe action of gravity drops to a position where-the springs 33 force the bolts 31 to engage in notches 34 thereby to secure the clamp plates in bat clamping and compressing relationship with re- The conveyor moves the trays on an upward course and about the axis of the upper sprocket shaft and thence on a downward course to the unloading station or position $2, the trays and clamp plates and the bats or batting sheets between them being inverted enroute. Just before the trays reach the unloading station S; the latches engage triggers 4 I which move the latches so as to disengage the bolts 31 from the notches 34 and the clamp plates drop under the action of gravity to the open position as indicated at station S2 in Fig. l and in dotted lines in Fig. 8. As each clamp plate drops to open position-the springs 33 are first compressed and then, when the triggers clear, they return the latch armsto positions where the bolts 31 engage in notches 35, and the'parts are heldthus in open position through the return movement of the trays and clamp plates from station S2 to station S1. The

details of the latch release mechanism will now I be described.

Extending horizontally acrossthe ends 'of columns 2 and 3 and rigidly secured thereto in any suitable manner, are channel members 42 on the outer ends of which the latch release triggers 39 and 4| are mounted at an' angle to intercept-the latch arms. In order to bring the triggers 38 and 4| into the path of roller strikers 43 which project laterally from and are secured to the free ends of the latch arms 21, the-channel members 42 being disposed well away from the conveyor to provide the necessary clearance therefrom, the triggers 39 and 4| are mounted on long bolts 44 which pass through them through holesin a bar 45 disposed transversely across the channel ing station-Sr. and the time it'arrives at thunloading station Salt will have been cooledto a sufiicient extent by the surrounding atmosphere to cause the binder to'set at. leastjto, the point where the bats will-hold the shape and dimension to whichthey have beenpres 'se d. The trays'and the clamp plat-esv preferably are made of heat conducting-materialso as to: conduc-zt and dissipa te the heat contained in, the bats and the weight ofeach of the clamp. plates issufiicient to compress at least the irregular .upperburface portion or the bats, tp an even suriace anid to provide a-predetermined thickness of .bat even though the density oifth e batsfm'ay 'vary somewhatbetween different portions thereon When the binder has set and the bats havecooled; they .retain their predetermined shape and j dimensions'and ar ited -quantitie s o shape-and dimensions-'may be manufactured .very easilmand economicallyfand it is a simple matter tomanufacture the sheets or bats in any desired size,

eady for packaging. j Unlimats of substantially" identical Obviously, the inventionis' susceptible' offmany i-adaptatione and variations, and, as respects cervtain features, is .,,susceptible of embodiment in mother forms diflieringyridely irom the embodisment chosen. for-illustration herein. Consequently, itris desired that the invention be limited only by its spirit andth e scop elof theappen'ded C1alms r 1'. In an apparatus forproducing light-weight, binder-treated mineral wool bats of. predetermined thicknessgthe combination of an endless carrienxa series of trays fixedly mounted thereon and adapted to receive a-plurality. of partially cooled bats, a compressionplatepivotallycon nected at onei'edge with each oisaid trays, the

. free edge of each plate being. gravity actuated toward its respective. tray upon the upward travel of the'tray and away from such tray upon the downwardtravel thereoflmeans for locking said plate in open and closed position with respect to said tray, means for releasing said locking 'means upon downward travel of thetray to f tofmove said lationships, and means ward travel of the"trayi.to perm'itthegravity induced compressingactiorrof said platei W eonveyor e nams having a closed 'path, of travel including an upward course-against gravity to a loading station and a downward course with'gravity m an unloading station-{a tray carried by said mechanism and arranged to lie in a substantially horizontal plane" at the-loadinz station, 'a compressiongplate carried by said mechanism adj acent "to said ltray and normally tending to move relatively toward saidtray under the influence oigravity' whenonsaidppward course s: gioorx'aration with said tray" toclamp ,mineral wool tl'i'erebetween andriormally' tending tofmove relatively away from said tray. under the "influence of gravity when on said downward 'eourseflforreleasing said wooljlatch means for queu ng said plate and tray in clamping and released J relationships during predetermined, space intervals, and latch operating meansoper- 'ative uponpredetermined movement of said trayior releasing said vlatchimeans to permit gravity ,3. In a machine of the character described, a

conveyor mechanism having a closed path of travel including anupward course against gravity to a loadingstation and a downward course with gravity to an" unloading stationya tray carried by said mechanism and arranged to lie in a substantially horizontal plane at-the-loading station, a compression plate carriedby said mechanism adjacent to said tray andnormally tending to move relativelytoward said tray under,

,the innuenceot gravity when on said upward course "for cooperatiorr'wlth said tray to clamp a plate alternately into clamping and releasing relationshipwith saidtray."

leasing said latch means to permit gravity actua-, tion of said plate alternately into clamping and releasing positions. i j 5,. .In a machine oi-the character described, a

f 2 .Ina machineof the character described; a 5 tray adapted to receivebats thereupon, conveyor means for moving said tray i'rom a loading to an unloading station and forinverting said tray betweensaid stations, a plate associated with said tray and cooperative therewith for clamping bats therebetween, said plate and tray being relative- 1y movable toward and from one another, under the influence. of gravity, means for releasably securing said;plate and trayin relative positions a sufllcient'distance apart for the tree reception of bats therebetween and in relative. positionsat means operative upon predetermined movement of said tray and plate from said loading station toward said unloading station for releasing said securing means to permit gravityto move said plate and tray relatively "toward one another i from theflrst said, secured positions into the second said secured positions, and means operative upon inversion of said tray for releasing said securingmeansato permit, gravity to move said plate'and tray relatively ,awaytfrom one another from 'the secondisaid secured positions into the first. said secured positions for removal of the bats atsaidunloading station. H .6. AT machine for the manufacture oi insulating batsoi predetermined thicknessestfrom a fibrous :binder treated material, comprising an endless conveyor; a plurality of trays carried by 1 said conveyor and-movable -therewith between a loading station and an unloading station.-each of said trays when at said loading stationincluding a relatively fixed lower member and an upper member movable toward the lowenme'm- -ber-;under the influence of gravity to compress plurality of bats Itherebetween "and normally 4unandclamp= a'quantity of said material between tendingto move relatively away from said tray under the influence of gravity when onsaid .downward coursefor releasing the batsylatch a means for securingsaid plate and tray in clamping and released relationshipsduiing predeter- "mined space intervals; latch'operating means operative upon predetermined movement of said tray from said loading station for releasing said latchmeans to permit gravity to move said plate 4. In a machine of the character described, a conveyor 'mechanism having-a closed path of travel including an upward course against gravity, "past a loading station and'a downward course with gravity pastan unloading stationja iray' carried by said mechanism and-arranged tolie pp being gravity actuated toward their,

.in' asubsta'ntiaily horizontal plane at e'ach of/ vsiwctive trays po up e z p of t e 1 such stations, a compression'plate carriedhysaid I mechanism adjacent to saidtray sndyndrmally tr ysupon the downtravelling pfl the tending to moverelatively towardsaid' ay under the influence oi gravity when on ils aid upward said plateand tray in clamping and released ree {operative at predetermined positions of said t the members when the members are at said loading station; said movable member being adapted v.to'move awayfrom said fixed member under the influence oi. gravity atsaid unloading station to releasethe material, latch meansadapted to hold 1 said members apart'for loadingat said loadin station andior securing said members in mate rialclampingrelationship when said tray leaves its :loading station, means operative upon moveinent of a tray from said loading station formrleasing said latch means so that said members may be'clamp said material, and means operative upon movement of the tray to a place adjacent tosaid unloadingstation-for releasing said latch -means to'releasesaid members from clamping engagement with the material. i r i '7."In' a machine of the character described, the combination of an endlessconveyor, a series of; trays i'lxedly mounted thereon, a gravity actuated'compression plate piv'otally mounted-in cooperative'relationtwith each of said trays; said conveyor andgravity actuated away from said veyor, alatch comprising cooperating elements carried by each tray, and plate, each latch being constructed to releasablylatch the plate in both open and closed position with respect to 0 its companion tray, stationary-means in proximit to .the upward pathof travel of the trays for successively releasing said latches to permit the. plates to close to a predetermined position with respect to their trays, inwhich closed poay in its travel for re- 75, sition the trays are automatically secured by a lesser distance apart for clamping the bats.

said latches, and means in proximity to the downward travel of said trays for releasing the latches to permit the trays to assume an open position under the influence of gravity, in which position the trays are automatically secured by said latches.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an endless conveyor, a series of trays fixedly mounted thereon, a compression plate pivotally mounted on the conveyor adjacent to each tray, said plates being movable by gravity on their pivots toward and away from their respective trays at loading and unloading stations, respectively, a latch for each tray comprising cooperating elements carried by the tray and plate whereby the plate is automatically locked in open position and in closed position, stationary means for successively releasing said latches to permit gravity actuated closing movement of the trays at the loading station, and stationary means for successively releasing said latches to permit gravity actuated opening movement of said trays at the unloading station.

9.'In a machine of the character described, a tray, means for moving said tray progressively past a loading and an unloading station, a plate pivotally connected to said tray so that the free edge thereof may be gravity actuated toward and away from said tray at the loading and unloading stations, respectively, means for releasably. holding said plate in closed and in open relation to the tray, means operative upon predetermined movement of said tray and plate from said loading station toward said unloading said holding means to permit gravity actuation of said plate to open position at the unloading station,

10. A machine for the manufacture of bats of predetermined thicknesses from mineral wool 7 having a binder applied thereto comprising conveyor means movable progressively past a loading station and an unloading station, a plurality of trays mounted upon said conveyor means in spaced relation to one another, a plate associated with each tray and cooperative therewith for clamping bats therebetween, each said plate and its associated tray being relatively movable toward and from one another under the influence of gravity, a latch arm pivotally connected with each tray and variably connectible to the companion associated plate for, releasably securing such trays and plates in relative positions a sufficient distance apart for the relatively free reception of bats therebetween and in positions relatively closer together for clamping bats between them, and means efiective upon movement of each tray from said loading station for releasing said securing means to permit gravity to move such tray andits associated plate relatively toward one another from receiving to clamping position, and meansfor'subsequently V releasing said securing means to permit gravity separation of such tray and plate for unloading purposes.

THOMAS F. MOONEY. 

